


K-I-S-S-I-N-G

by TheSwingbyJeanHonoreFragonard



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Childhood Friends, Confessions, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29726793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSwingbyJeanHonoreFragonard/pseuds/TheSwingbyJeanHonoreFragonard
Summary: Jaehyun and Shotaro sittin' in a tree.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Osaki Shotaro
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Summer’s approaching.

Jaehyun feels it in all of the exam-cramming and extra credit homework. He feels it in the late-night microwave dinners and the early-morning loopiness that comes with not getting enough sleep, from surviving all of the mosquito bites. He feels it in the heat that never leaves his bedroom, even when he sits in front of the big, whirling floor fan. He feels summer approaching in the way all of his friends spend less and less time together, even as the muggy evenings stretch longer and longer. 

But Jaehyun also feels summer’s touch in the bright, warm sun that accompanies him on his walks home from soccer practice. He feels it in the way his dreams are so so so close. He feels it in the wailing cicadas and the seemingly random rainstorms. He feels it in the nectarines just coming into season and in the watermelons at the convenience store getting cheaper and cheaper each week.

“Looks like it’s just us today.”

The soft, sweet voice comes out of thin air. Or so it seems.

Jaehyun looks up from the book he’s reading just in time to see Shotaro’s head of curly hair poke out from around one of the tree’s thicker branches. Gosh. Jaehyun had been expecting Jungwoo or even Minhyung. “Oh,” Jaehyun sucks in a breath. “Hey.”

Shotaro climbs a little higher up the tree. “What’s that look for?”

It takes a moment for Jaehyun to come to his senses. To realize that he’s sitting upright, rigid and open-mouthed like he’s been electrically shocked. He relaxes. “Was reading a good book,” he manages, lifting the novel in his hands. “Didn’t hear you climb up.” It’s some fantasy novel full of romance and adventure and pirates and boys kissing and Jaehyun almost feels a little embarrassed to be caught with it. It’s his secret. One he went all the way to the next town over to buy so that no one from this town would see him purchase it. “Wasn’t expecting anyone else to show today. That’s why I--” _Let my guard down_ , he finishes in his head. 

And that’s the main point here, isn’t it? Shotaro’s caught him off guard. As he always does. Catching every little bit of Jaehyun's surprise.

Jaehyun had just been daydreaming about him. He’d been reading this great book about pirate ships and cursed islands and the great big ocean and sword fighting and hand-holding and he’d pictured the two of them as the main characters. Him and Shotaro. Kissing under the stars. Now, here he is, staring the real Shotaro in the face.

The one who is absolutely clueless about the chaos he puts Jaehyun through. 

He makes himself look away from Shotaro’s face. Away from those big brown eyes and that smile that’s worth more than any pirate treasure. 

“Sorry I’m a little late.” Shotaro grunts with effort as he swings his leg up over the big tree branch and sits atop it. He’s still in his school uniform, which means he’s only just finished some after school club activity or something, even though the sun’s about to go down. Jaehyun has had enough time to go home and change before coming out here.

“I’m just glad someone’s here at all,” Jaehyun admits. “I’ve been--” _By myself_ , he wants to say, but he knows everyone is busy and he doesn't want to make anyone feel guilty about that. Busy with finals. Busy with family. Busy with preparing for graduation. Busy with shopping for college. He and Jungwoo and Minhyung don't even have time on Sundays to eat ice cream on the bridge anymore and, yeah, it's kind of childish but it's also their _thing_ and it feels wrong to go this long breaking the tradition but that's what growing up is all about. Not so much growing out of innocence and youth but rather having it wrenched from you by the greedy hands of time. Shotaro’s got a whole ‘nother year before he has to start worrying about going off to college or other such things and his easy-going smile is proof of that. “I should be studying,” Jaehyun states, “but sitting here after school is a habit that’s hard to break.”

Shotaro nods. “Yeah. I get it. It’s our thing.” He uses his dress shirt sleeve to wipe sweat off of his cheek. “Though I have to admit I’ve been avoiding it lately.” 

This tree is their special place. Not just Jaehyun’s and Shotaro’s. It’s special for all of them. All of the friends. All of the neighborhood boys.

It’s a big, old, sturdy tree--Jaehyun’s not even sure of what kind it is--with enough little nooks and crannies in its branches that all six of them can find places to sit and relax and chat and read and smoke and talk about video games and ask questions about girls. The leaves are thick and block out the sun and the main way to tell who is here and who isn’t is to evaluate the backpacks strewn through the grass among the roots. The tree is where they’ve been coming for years. Since they were all children. It stands proud and tall at the edge of town and gives them an uninterrupted view of the strawberry greenhouses and apple orchards in one direction and the roofs of their small, countryside town in the other. 

Jaehyun loves this tree. 

It’s brought him and all of his friends together through thick and thin, rain or shine. This tree has seen them laugh and joke and play. It’s seen them yell at each other and cry because of each other. It’s seen them at their best and their worst but it passes no judgment, which is why they keep coming back.

Jaehyun hates this tree. 

Because once summer is over, he and the others are going to have to leave it. Shotaro will be the only one left behind to sit in it.

“What are you reading,” Shotaro asks.

Jaehyun startles and snaps the book closed. He was so lost in thought that he hadn’t seen Shotaro climb up another branch or feel him crawl forward to sit right in front of him. Knee to knee. “Pirates,” Jaehyun blurts out. He realizes Shotaro is reaching for the book as if to take it from him, as if to flip it over and reveal the gay little illustration on the cover. Jaehyun reaches out his own hand, clamps it tight around Shotaro’s fingers to stop him.

It takes a moment for Jaehyun’s brain to catch up with his body. He recognizes that he’s holding Shotaro’s hand in step-by-step stages. 

First, physically. He acknowledges that Shotaro’s hand is warm and sweaty against his palm. That Shotaro’s nails are a bit untrimmed and dig into his skin a little. His own fingertips--calloused from sports--makes Shotaro’s lotion-soft hand feel that much smoother. 

Second, emotionally. He acknowledges that they are sitting very close to each other and that holding Shotaro’s hand makes his heart race. Makes his palms sweat more than they already sweat. Makes his face heat up like he’s sunburnt.

He lets go of Shotaro’s hand, holding back a timid squeak.

Shotaro just smiles and chuckles through what could have been an awkward silence. “What are your plans?”

Such a simple question sends Jaehyun spiraling. It’s the same thing his mother has been asking him for weeks. For months. His plan is to take his finals, graduate, leave town for a three week long boot camp with the rest of the players who made it to the regional soccer team. Then, almost immediately afterwards, he’ll be packing his things and leaving town, heading to the other side of the country for college. He only has a handful of weeks to decide if he's majoring in sports medicine or if he'll do something a bit more practical like business. He’s not even sure he’ll get to see Shotaro _at all_ this summer and that terrifies him. It scares him silly because he still hasn’t confessed. After all these years. “To live with no regrets,” he loudly announces.

At such a proclamation, Shotaro chuckles again. Louder. “No, I meant your plans for this evening. I kinda wanna go get hotpot.”

But now that Jaehyun’s worked up the courage, he can’t let this go. “I’m serious, Taro,” he says. “I don’t want to leave this town next month wondering what if what if what if.”

Shotaro’s smile falters. He looks up at Jaehyun with furrowed eyebrows. “What’s the matter?”

Jaehyun bites his bottom lip. He has to look away from Shotaro’s precious, terrific face. His thoughts are going in every direction. A monsoon of burning-bright emotions. He feels light-headed. Jeez. He just looked down. Why did he look down?

Has the ground always been so far awat?

Have they always climbed so high up this tree? Isn’t that dangerous? Where are their mothers?

“Jae,” Shotaro says quietly. He puts his palm on Jaehyun’s thigh--lightly--but it still makes Jaehyun jolt. “What’s going on? You can tell me anything.”

_But not this_ , Jaehyun wants to say. He wants to throw these feelings away. These effervescent feelings that have been bubbling up in him since Shotaro first started following behind him in junior high, quite literally latching on to his shirt sleeves and trailing after him like a lost puppy because he was new in town and Jaehyun was the only student who knew enough Japanese to help him. He wants to throw away the feelings that have only grown and grown over the years. Lazy days of movie-watching in Jungwoo's attic or taking their bikes down to the riverside to watch Taeil fish or rushing through their homework at Jaehyun's house so that they can all go to the tree or begging Doyoung to tutor them in math or gathering at Minhyung's on Sunday after church service for a really big dinner that his mom cooked. As the years of his childhood slipped through his fingers like grains of sand, Jaehyun had not realized just how much time he'd spent with Shotaro until spending time with Shotaro meant something _different_. Until every sip from the same straw meant something different. Until every shared bite of food meant something different. Until every hug, every accidental brush of their fingers, every nap they took on each other's shoulders, every song they listened to together-- Until it _all_ meant something different.

But Jaehyun can’t hide this. Not if he wants to sleep tonight. “I think I like you,” he confesses, looking straight into Shotaro’s eyes. “No. I _know_ I like you.” And, really, truly, that’s enough. That’s all it should take. That’s all he needs. But he keeps going. “You’re all I think about. I’d do anything to protect you. I love it when you smile at me. Whenever these two guys kiss in this book, I pretend it’s the two of us.” And he holds up the novel. Raises it between their faces, partially to show Shotaro the hunky guys on the cover but also as a shield to keep Shotaro’s gaze from reaching all the way in to his soul. He says it again, “I like you.” And then again. “I like you! And I know it’s really bummy of me to say something like this when we’ve only got a month or so before I have to leave, but--”

“Jae,” Shotaro cuts him off.

Jaehyun goes quiet. His mouth is dry. His throat is tight. His heart is pounding so hard in his chest that he feels his pulse in his ears and it is an absolute miracle that he hasn’t swooned and gone careening off the branch to his doom down below.

Shotaro’s hands touch Jaehyun’s hands.

Warm. Damp. Soft. He pries the book out of Jaehyun’s hands and now they’ve got no other choice but to look right at each other. 

Jaehyun looks at him. He _looks_ at him. At the sweat on Shotaro's forehead and the laugh lines in the corners of his eyes and the little dimples that dent his cheeks and his smile. Oh. His smile! It’s so wonderful. _He’s_ so wonderful. Jaehyun wants to--

“Do you want to kiss me,” Shotaro asks.

It’s like he’s read Jaehyun’s mind. It’s like he can hear Jaehyun’s thrashing heart and racing pulse. “Yes,” he exhales shakily. There’s suddenly no space between them but there’s also too much space. A soccer field. A chasm. Infinity. 

Shotaro grabs hold of Jaehyun’s hand and, just like that, the distance is no longer too little or too much. It’s just right. It’s perfect. A tiny hint of mischief sparks in Shotaro’s eyes. “Then kiss me.”

And it feels like a dream. It feels like everything is falling perfectly into place. Too perfectly. Jaehyun realizes he hasn’t taken a breath in so long that his lungs hurt. He sucks in air. “I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

“Now you get to,” Shotaro tells him. He closes the distance between their faces and presses his soft lips to Jaehyun’s. 

It’s everything. _Everything_ . It’s so much of everything that Jaehyun is convinced it can’t be real. He squeezes his eyes shut. Opens them. But he’s still here in this tree--in _their_ tree--holding Shotaro’s hand and kissing Shotaro’s lips. 

Shotaro turns his head slightly. Their mouths align a little more comfortably. A little more seamlessly.

Jaehyun rearranges their hands so that he can slide his fingers between Shotaro’s. So that he can press their palms together, dig his nails into the back of Shotaro’s hand and keep him close.

Shotaro squeezes their hands together. He leans forward so quickly that they both feel the tree branch sway. Shotaro parts his lips and deepens the kiss.

Jaehyun does not know what he’s doing at all. Kissing feels so strange and yet so wonderful. But he doesn't know what he's doing! He’s all smacking lips and waggling tongue and clumsy, biting teeth but Shotaro doesn’t seem to care. In fact, he seems to enjoy it, giggling like he’s being tickled as the wind picks up and gets all the leaves rustling.

Jaehyun pulls away. Breathless. Alive. In love. “Are you real,” he has to ask. “Am I dreaming?”

Shotaro inelegantly snorts. He reaches up with his free hand and pinches Jaehyun’s ruddy cheek so hard that Jaehyun squirms and sends his book sailing through the air and to the ground. “Do I look like a figment of your imagination?” He tries to be assertive but he just ends up giggling again.

“Yes,” Jaehyun tells him. “You do. You’re a dream come true.” Jaehyun lifts his own free hand up and cups Shotaro’s cheek. He can feel Shotaro’s sun-warm skin under his palm. He can feel Shotaro’s tensing muscles and thudding pulse. Shotaro is real. Shotaro is here. He’s a fantastic, wonderful little dream but he’s _real_.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you,” Shotaro rasps out.

“I’m here now,” Jaehyun reassures him. And maybe Shotaro knew before he did. Maybe he knew Jaehyun couldn’t stop thinking about him. Maybe he knew. Maybe he knew. “I’m sorry I made you wait.”

Shotaro kisses him again. And again. And again. Then, mouths brushing, he whispers, "Let's go get hotpot."


End file.
